Scotland 0-2 Czech Republic: Schick double sinks hosts

The Czech Republic enjoyed a winning start to their EURO campaign with Patrik Schick scoring two wonderful goals to see off Scotland.

Match in brief

David Marshall is left grasping at thin air after Patrik Schick beats him from distanceGetty Images

Scotland had the better of the half-chances in the opening half, with Lyndon Dykes sweeping wide of the near post and Andy Robertson drawing a fine save from Tomáš Vaclík, but it was the visitors who struck the opening blow just before the interval when Schick expertly glanced in Vladimír Coufal's cross.

The second half was much more open. David Marshall quickly had to deny Schick and Vladimír Darida, before Scotland roared back as Jack Hendry rattled the bar and Vaclík clawed away a mis-hit clearance from Tomáš Kalas.

The inspirational Schick would have the decisive say on 52 minutes, though, spotting Marshall off his line and lobbing the Scotland goalkeeper from close to the halfway line to stun Hampden Park.

Star of the Match: Patrik Schick (Czech Republic)

"Two great goals – the second one superb. He had numerous efforts, led the line, brought people into the game and ran the channels when necessary. Overall a great performance."
Packie Bonner, UEFA Technical Observer

Patrik Schick wheels away after heading in the opening goalGetty Images

Alex O'Henley, Scotland reporter

This is the result Scotland dreaded. A home game against the Czech Republic, a side they have a good recent record against, offered their best chance of three points. Yes, they had chances and were superbly denied by Vaclík and an obdurate defence, but they made life difficult for themselves by giving away too many corners – losing the first goal from one – and a bit of improvised magic from Schick sealed their fate.

Ondřej Zlámal, Czech Republic reporter

What a perfect start for the Czechs! They were tactically excellent, focused and determined with a clear game plan. All of that was underlined by a fantastic team goal and a marvellous effort by Schick which will be spoken about for years, just like Karel Poborský's lob against Portugal in 1996. Well done boys, good work!

Reaction

Patrik Schick, Czech Republic forward: "It's always hard to play against us: we have a lot of hardworking players. Scotland were a tough opponent. But we were ready for their tactics. [For my goal] I saw the goalkeeper off his line – I checked in the first half where he was standing."

Jaroslav Šilhavý, Czech Republic coach: "The decisive factor was that we survived the early pressure from Scotland. Then we got into the game and scored the opening goal. The second goal from Patrik calmed us down and finished the job."

Andy Robertson, Scotland defender: "We were confident, excited, and it comes down to not taking our chances. You can't say we've not created. We've had some really, really good chances that we should have done better with. If you do better on that, then it's a different game. It's a tough lesson for us that at the highest level, at the best tournaments, you have to take your chances. Czech Republic did that; we didn't."

Stuart Armstrong, Scotland midfielder: "The game was very compact and we were playing too many long balls. When we passed it, we did quite well, but it was hard to break them down. We're disappointed with the way the first goal went in; apart from that, we defended pretty well. They were clinical. At this level, you do need to be clinical."

Jack Hendry's shot hits the bar for ScotlandPOOL/AFP via Getty Images

Key stats

• Schick has now scored eight goals in his last 11 international appearances.
• The opening goal was the first scored by the Czech Republic in the first half in six EURO games – the last had been against Greece in 2012.
• Schick is the first player to score two goals in a EURO game for the Czechs since Milan Baroš in a 3-0 quarter-final win over Denmark in 2004.
• The clean sheet was just the third for the visitors in their last 18 international matches.
• Marshall (36 years and 101 days) became the second-oldest player to appear for Scotland at a major tournament after 39-year-old Jim Leighton at the 1998 FIFA World Cup.

Line-ups

Scotland: Marshall; Hanley, Cooper, Hendry (McGregor 67); O'Donnell (Forrest 79), Armstrong (Fraser 67), McTominay, McGinn, Robertson; Dykes (Nisbet 79), Christie (Adams 46)

Czech Republic: Vaclík; Coufal, Čelůstka, Kalas, Bořil; Souček, Král (Holeš 67); Masopust (Vydra 72), Darida (Ševčík 87), Jankto (Hložek 72); Schick (Krmenčík 87)